Three-in-one greeting card



April 18, 1950 o. OTTERSON THREE-IN-ONE GREETING CARD Filed Feb. 27,1948 INVENTOR. o 7'TER6'OM INSTRUCTIONS v W70 CALENDAR ADVERTISING FIG.2.

FIG. 1.

Patented Apr. 18, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THREE-lN-ONE GREETINGCARD Oscar L. Otterson, Butler, Pa.

Application February 27, 1948, Serial No. 11,462

3 Claims. 1 This invention relates to a greeting card which is i ormedwith means whereby inserted cards may be disposed on the card and thelatter may be folded to provide an inverted V-shaped desk calendar ormay be hung from the wall.

Another object of this invention is to provide a multi-use foldablegreeting card having an insertible card on one part of the folio onwhicha greeting may be placed and also having a second insertible cardbearing a picture or the like,

the one sheet of the folio having a tab secured thereto which may beused either for hanging the card on a wall, or may be used for holdingthe card in inverted V-shape t .provide an easeltype desk calendarhaving a picture on the side thereof opposite from the calendar.

A further object of this invention is to provide a multi-use greetingcard in the form of a folio having slits therein for receiving cards ofsuitable character, the slits of one portion of the card beingoppositely disposed from the slits on the other portion of the card sothat an inserted element may be disposed in either horizontallydisposedposition or in vertically-disposed position.

With the above and other objects'in view, my invention consists in thearrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in thedrawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a perspective view of a greeting card constructed accordingto an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the device disposed as a hangingcalendar and picture holder.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device in folded form for use on adesk.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the reverse side of the greeting card.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale takensubstantially on the plane of the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on theplane of the line 6-6 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, the numerals II] and II designate generally apair of connected front and rear sheet members of substantiallyrectangular configuration forming a folio. The front sheet member II] isformed with a plurality of right angularly disposed slits I2 withinwhich the corners of a card or picture I3 are adapted to be engaged.

The rear sheet II has fixed to the inner sur- 2 face thereof anelongated tab or strip I4 which in one use of the device may be used asa hanger and in another use of the device serves as a stretcher engagingbetween the two sheets Ill and I I for holding these members indownwardly divergent relation.

The strip or tongue It is formed with a pair of openings I5 throughwhich a supporting element such as a tack or nail is adapted to beextended when the device is suspended from a wall. A fold line 25extends across the tab between openings I5.

The rear sheet II is also formed with a plurality of right angular slitsI6 through which the corners of a greeting or other similar card I1 areadapted to be extended whereby to conceal tab M. The card I] is of thesame size and shape as card I3 but the slits I6 define an area disposedat right angles to the card or picture I3 so that when the picture I3 isinter-changed with the card I'I the former may be disposed at rightangles to its original position.

The front sheet I9 is formed with an elongated slit I8 disposed betweenthe lowermost pair of slits I2 so that if it is desired to use the cardas a desk calendar the strip or tab I4 may be bent at substantially anobtuse angle with the sheet I I and the end of the tab I4 then extendedthrough the slit I8 of the front sheet member Iil, Figure 3.

The front sheet member ID on the outer side thereof is adapted to havesecured thereto a calendar I9 which is of a size to engage within thearea defined by the four slits I2 so that when a card or picture isdisposed on the outer side of the sheet II] the calendar I9 will becovered.

When the card is sent as a greeting card, the tab I4 is not only foldedon the fold line 25 but also on a fold line 26 adjacent the attached endof the tab, whereby the tab It is substantially entirely concealedbehind the greeting card IT.

The greeting card I! is adapted to have printed on the reverse side fromthe greeting, instructions as indicated at 20 for instructing the userhow the card may be changed from a folded greeting card to awall-supported calendar or picture holder, or to a desk supportedeasel-type calendar.

When the device is used as a wall-supported element, the picture card I3may be engaged with the slits I6 of the sheet II and the tongue or tabIt may be folded on line 25 and extended above sheet II as shown inFigure 2. When so folded the apertures I5 register to reinforce thestrip and a supporting tab of double thickness is provided.

Where it is desired to use the card as a wallsupported calendar and thecard-is distributed by an advertiser, the space between the right angleslits I2 on the outer surface of the card or sheet l may have a blockedarea 22 within which advertising or the like may be placed and withinwhich the calendar [9 may be disposed.

What is claimed is:

1. A folded greeting card adapted to be selectively transformed into aneasel type desk calendar and a hangin wall calendar, comprising frontand rear sheets hingedly comiected together along adjacent end edges toprovide abutting inner surfaces and oppositely directed outer surfaces,said sheets including free end edges, 21 calendar fixed to said outersurface of said front sheet so as to be upright when said adjacent endedges of said sheets are uppermost, both sheets being formed to providefour slits therethrough, said slits defining identical rectangularareas, said area of said front sheet being larger than said calendar andconcentrically disposed about the same, an elongated folded tab, saidtab having an end fixed to the inner surface of said rear sheet, saidtab being folded on a fold line parallel to said free end edge of saidrear sheet so as to overlie said inner surface of said rear sheet,display cards removablymounted in said slits so as to overlie the outersurface of the front sheet and the inner surface of the rear sheetwhereby to conceal respectively said calendar and folded tab, saiddisplay card concealing said calendar being adapted to being removedfrom the front sheet and to .be mounted in said slits of said sheet soas to overlie the outer surface of said rear sheet, said tab beingformed with spaced apertures therethrough and a transverse fold lineintermediate said apertures whereby'said apertures register when saidtab is folded on said second named fold line, and said tab being adaptedto being unfolded on said first named fold line so as to extendoutwardly of said free end edge of said rear sheet while :folded on saidsecond named fold line whereby to provide a hanging tab of doublethickness when said card is unfolded and used as a wall calendar.-

"2. A folded greeting card adapted to be selectively transformed into aneasel type desk calenida'r and. a hanging wall calendar, comprisingfront and rear sheets hingedly connected together along adjacent endedges to provide abutting inner surfaces and oppositely directed outersur- -faces,said sheet including free end edges, a calen dar fixed tosaid outer surface of saidfront sheet so as to be upright when saidadjacentend edges of said sheets are uppermost, both sheets being formedto provide four slits therethrough, said slits defining identicalrectangular areas, said area of said rear sheet being disposed at rightangles to that of said front sheet, said area of said front sheet beinglarger than said calendar and concentrically dis-posed about the same,an elongated folded tab fixed to the inner surface of said rear sheet,said slits normally mounting identically. sized display cards therein onthe outer surface of the front sheet and the inner surface of the rearsheet with said cards being upright when said adjacent end edges of saidsheet are disposed vertically in a greeting card providing position,said display cards concealing respectively said calendar and folded tab,said display card concealing said calendar being adapted to be mountedon the outer surface of said rear sheet in said slits to display suchdisplay cards in upright positions when said greeting card istransformed to an easel type desk calendar or to a hanging wallcalendar, and said tab comprising means for selectively mounting saidgreeting card as a hanging wall calendar and as an easel type deskcalendar.

3. A folded greeting card adapted to be transformed into a hanging wallcalendar, comprising front and rear sheets hingedly connected togetheralong adjacent end edges to provide abutting inner surfaces andoppositely directed outer surfaces, said sheets including free endedges, a calendar fixed to said outer surface of said front sheet so asto be upright when said adjacent end edges of said sheets are uppermost,both sheets being formed to provide for slits therethrough, said slitsdefining identical rectangular areas, said area of said rear sheet beingdisposed at right angles to that of said front sheet, said area of saidfront sheet being larger than said calendar and concentrically disposedabout the same, an elongated folded tab, said tab having an end surfacefixed to said inner surface of said rear sheet, said tab being folded ona fold line parallel to said end edge of said rear sheet so as tooverlie said inner surface of said. rear sheet, identically sizeddisplay cards detachably seated in said slits so as to overlie the outersurface of said front sheet and the inner surface of said rear sheetwhereby to conceal said calendar and folded tab, said display cardsbeing upright with said adjacent end edges of said sheets are disposedin a vertical greeting card providing position, said display cardconcealing said calendar being adapted to be removed from said frontsheet and mounted on said. outer surface of said rear sheet in saidslits thereof, whereby to display such last named display card in anupright position when said. greeting card is unfolded and used as ahanging wall calendar, said tab being formed with spaced aperturestherethrough and a transverse fold. line intermediatev said apertureswhereby said apertures register when said tab is folded on said secondnamed fold line, and said tab being adapted to be unfolded on said firstInamed fold :line so as to. extend outwardly of said free end edge ofsaid rear sheet while folded on said second named fold line whereby toprovide a hanging tab of double thickness for hanging said greeting cardwhen the same is unfolded and 'used as a'wa'll calendar.

OSCAR L. OTTERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 408,041 'Orr .s July 30, 1889713,170 Still et a1 Nov. 11, '1902 828,984 Sweet Aug. 21, 1906 1,077,130England Oct, 28, 1913 1,317,946 Snively Oct. 7, 1919 1,347,269 'GrebleJuly 20, 1920 1,407,497 Sussman Feb. 21, 1922 1,705,116 Howland Mar. 12,1929 2,049,165 Kellermeier July 28, 193 6 2,177,405 Gross Oct. 2 1, 19392,419,823 Gross et a1. Apr. 29, I947

